Well, well, I love it, but raw and grated, next to raw and grated carrots, try it, it'll get you more friends than auldspice.

One of my favourite foods when I was in Egypt and then in Israel, was falafel in pitta bread with salad (not a good idea in Egypt really) and some spicy stuff. Ate it every day, until I went down with amoebic dysentery.

Peel potatoes and cook in boiling water.
Simmer milk and spring onions together for five minutes.
Strain potatoes and mash thoroughly.
Add hot milk, and the spring onions, salt and pepper, and half the butter.
Champ is served piled high on the dish, with a well of melted butter in the centre.

I prefer it with more spring onions in it and served with boiled bacon and cabbage. A perfect winter dish, Yum yum.

There's lots of variations on this. My Mexican mother-in-law was mystifyied when she saw me prepare this sub-Delia Smith version (she was used to just mashing up a couple of avocados and adding nothing). But she liked it anyway. Great for dips or adding to a tortilla wrap, with chicken and salsa.

Mash together the flesh of two avocados, a clove or two or garlic, some salt, some chilli powder. For a fancier version, stick a sprig or two of fresh coriander leaves on top.

Mole

A chocolate-based sauce used in Mexico for cooking stews. It's not sweet, it's not like draping a melted bar of Galaxy over a chicken. But it's a rich, savoury sauce that I just love. I did make it once from scratch, using all the various spices and ingedients. But it's not worth the hassle. Just get a jar of mole sauce (readily available from a Mexican deli) and add to some diced chicken. You can add some spuds and carrots if you want. Or whatever. Cook for 30 minutes or so. I like it with rice.